Please introduce yourself and tell us about your background as a writer.
I’m a middle-aged family man who writes adventure stories, and who has lately been fortunate enough to have some of those stories published.

I approach my writing from the perspective of a fan first and foremost. I’ve loved science fiction and fantasy all my life, so I tend to write sword and sorcery—but the most important thing to me is fast-paced, tightly-plotted stories that hold the reader’s attention, whatever the genre.

What are the most prominent influences on your writing? How do you incorporate those influences without being derivative?
It was adventure stories that hooked me as a boy. I always loved Alexandre Dumas. A swift-moving plot can carry me through some very dense prose, but without action even the plainest language is going to lose my attention. So, naturally I gravitate towards the pulps. I consider Dashiell Hammett to be the master of pacing, and it was after reading the Maltese Falcon that I really became seized by the desire to write stories of my own.

One of my all-time favorite writers is Gene Wolfe, and it is through his novels that I first got bitten by the sword and sorcery bug many years ago. That led me to the other greats in the genre, and I would say that it is the high caliber of the prose you can find in sword and sorcery that has really kept me interested. Poul Anderson, for instance, has a way with language that profoundly impressed me. And of course, nobody combines great prose with perfect pacing like Jack Vance. These are the kinds of writers I am most prominently influenced by.

In my own writing, I try to bring my own voice, my experiences and personality, to my stories, and I hope that this differentiates me.

Many authors say marketing is one of their biggest challenges. What tactics have you found to be most effective for getting your name out there?
I take the approach of putting as much effort as possible into trying to master the craft, to produce the best possible story I can, then let the story speak for itself. For me that means carefully working out the plot, developing the characterization, and polishing the prose to the best of my ability before submitting it to an editor for consideration.

Have you had any new stories published recently? Are you currently working on any?
My most recently published story is “The Eye of Balor,” which appears in Samhain Sorceries. The other stores in that anthology are all so impressive, being included alongside them has been a real high point for me.

My focus right now is on writing short stories. There are two that I am working on right now. I am putting the finishing touches on a new story I have been working on with my recurring sword and sorcery characters Hanno and Thrax. It’s actually the first Hanno and Thrax story I ever wrote, but it’s been so heavily revised that it is hardly recognizable compared to its first draft.

How much do your audience’s expectations factor in to what you write? Does this ever cause you to hold back from experimenting?
It is my hope that people will read and enjoy my writing, and I write with audience expectations in mind. But I think that’s generally a positive thing. Sometimes it is important to hold back from experimenting too much. When an author is working with a specific genre there has got to be a careful balancing act between trying something new and interesting without departing too dramatically from the established conventions that the readers are expecting.

Name one newer and one older book you have read and enjoyed recently. (“Newer” meaning from the past year or so, and “older” meaning written before 1980.)
Right now I’m reading Arminius, Bane of Eagles by Adrian Cole, and the War on Rome series is one that I am really excited about. Roman alternative history is one of my very favorite things to read, and it’s such a niche within a niche that I’m always thrilled to see more of it. And Arminius is the best I’ve read in that category since Robert Silverberg’s Roma Eterna.

As for older books, Roger Zelazny’s Creatures of Light and Darkness is a novel that I’ve read recently and enjoyed. The ancient Egyptian mythological motif really drew me in. It’s a very strange, very dark book. I recommend it!

Any final words?
I’m conscious that if somebody is going to take time out of their day to read a story, they need a good reason—the attention of a reader has to be earned. I always try to be respectful of my reader’s time. And so I want to say thank you to DMR Books for helping me get my story out there, and thanks to everyone for reading.